This is mostly just a tier list, for a guide on how to play arena, go here: http://community.gemsofwar.com/t/arena-guide-for-beginners/299 Just some quick tips though. Although this is a tier list, it is imperative that you try to keep a good mana...

For the common tier list, check out this link: http://community.gemsofwar.com/t/1-0-6-arena-tier-list-common/764 Welcome to the rare category. So you thought that there were supposed to be the most common troops? Not in this game. Although the...

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Now we are at the ultra rare pick. The final pick does not have as many troops as the rare slot, but this is the pick to try and fill out your mana curve. You will need some luck to fill it out just right, and this where that drop it a tier or 2 depending on overlap rule really comes into play. Still, with some recent additions, and some to come (cough, Hobgoblin) the ultra rare category has some pretty strong troops that maybe hard to pass up on.

Average face value for ultra rare is about 28 and mana charge cost is between 11-12.

TIER 1

Druid (Blue/G) Face value: 28. Say welcome to the new king of arena. For 12 mana, you get to do 12-16 damage (unless only 1 troop is alive.) Alright, so its random, but think of the dream scenario where with two charges of this, you can kill off some troops, with the dream being 2 kills with 2 charges of this! That’s game changing in arena… and this scenario is without help from other troops. Its like a Blade Dancer that doesn’t fall off, or only falls off slightly… its also VERY tanky and is fantastic in your last spot to tank up damaging last troop minions… Like the Frost Giant, when you deal this much damage, who cares if its random? (Cost = 12).

Sacred Guardian (Y/Br) Face value: 31. Probably the best arena tank due to its ability. It does 6 damage and gains 6 armor… great value! The more this goes off, the harder it becomes to kill, and it is consistent. This card is hard to kill early due to high base stats, and if left up too long it can 1v1 almost any minion that does not have true damage (bar horrible RNG on your part). Also, this has the best face value of any arena card besides Berserker and charges pretty fast for an ultra rare. Do be careful of troops that build strength based on your armor though (Cost = 11).

Herdmaster (P/Y) Face value: 27. Pretty squishy, but an amazing gem exploder. It explodes 4 giving you tons of mana with some skull damage… and if your enemy has silences, or some of those worse ones like poison or entangle, you and your team are cured… even if there is nothing to cleanse, 4 explosions at once is not to be underestimated… even if its random and on yellow gems… especially since it is the only multi-gem exploder in arena. Make sure to use this when there are spread out yellows for maximum effect. A note that now with explosion nerfs the value went down a bit, but explosions of this magnitude with possibility for matches afterwards still keeps this card near the top (Cost = 12).

Drake Rider (P/Br) Face value: 28. Deals 7 boosted and 1 to adjacent enemies. As Cocatrice laughs at the Nymph, the Drake Rider laughs at the Rhynax and shows how bad it is. Due to the 3 to 1 ratio, you can expect 10 on average. Just dealing 10 damage is pretty big. With the controlled yellow to red switch, you can also control getting an extra turn on this minion. This uses two of the least common mana types in arena as well. Of course, the value goes up if you have a red troop and down if you have a yellow troop (Cost = 11).

Blade Dancer (G/Y) Face value: 28. If your opponents have no armor, it does 7 between all enemies, which isn’t awful considering that once this happens your opponent will likely have 2 or 3 minions left. Next for every two armor they have, you deal 1 more damage. Often on first cast I see this do 15 damage at least, more than 20 isn’t uncommon, sure its random and split… but with that much damage, who cares? Also punishes teams with lots of armor and that build armor, which is why life (also due to true damage) is the better stat in arena. Charges up pretty fast for an ultra rare too. Value goes down if you don’t have a direct damage unit that you can target the ability with. Also is not as good in arena as compared to constructed due to enemies having less armor (Cost = 11).

TIER 2

Blast Cannon (R/Br) Face value: 30. 20 total life makes it one of the tankiest base arena minions. Dealing 8 damage and silencing is a great effect… although its random and slow which moves its value away from tier 1. (Cost = 14).

Giant Spider (Blue/G) Face Value: 25. Worst face value for an ultra rare, but the effect is great. Similar to Flame Cannon but the effect costs 4 mana less! Sure it does 1 less damage, but it also creates 6 purple gems. If you get a purple troop or weapon the value is great. Most of its bad value is due to its low attack, so just place it last as a decent last troop off tank (Cost: 8).

Flame Cannon (R/Y) Face value: 28. Most of its health is on its armor. While 6 life avoids most true damage sources, we like life more than armor. 4 to all enemies is very consistent, you can combo this off with the many AoE hero weapons to make a great AoE combo… loses value once enemies start to die though… but 16 damage to start is pretty darn good (Cost = 12).

Spider Queen (G/P) Face Value: 27. Work this as a carry, but 12 HP is super weak for an ultra rare… many enemies can two shot this. This ability affects armor only, and many good arena troops, even if they have more total health, will start with 5 armor or less. It also drains their mana, a great effect, although its not a silence, it can be targeted. If it gets to the front slot at the right time, 8 attack can be brutal against your opponent, but its just too squishy to be a great ultra rare. Pretty fast too so it can shut down slower threats (Cost = 9).

Stone Giant (G/Blue) Face Value: 27. This gets rid of reds, if you don’t have those, the value goes up. Now this can do about 9 damage on average and can be seen up to 11. Sure the damage is random, but now its more like a Griffon Knight, the cost decrease helps a lot. Like the Griffon, big risk, big reward minion (Cost = 10).

TIER 3

War Sphinx (Blue/P) Face Value: 28. Fairly tanky. Do not underestimate this ability… its partly RNG based sure, but it gives the extra turn after it jumbles the board. There is a decent chance that you will either get an extra turn with a 4+ mana match, or get a skull match, or both! You could also use this to just get a mana match that you want more mana of. Finally, this is VERY fast to charge for an ultra rare. As with all support minions, make sure you didn’t draft another if you want to draft this one (Cost = 7).

Knight Coronet (Blue/Y) Face value: 28. Deals at least 4 damage to the first two enemies, but with removing all purple gems, can do even more… can position yourself to get extra turns if played right. Unfortunately the 5:1 ratio is bad, and you will hit for 5 or 6 in most cases, but to two enemies. Also since purple is rare in arena you may not have minions that use purple gems, increasing its value. Slower to charge than the similar Reaver from the common slot, but they make a great combo (Cost = 12).

Berserker (R/Blue) Face Value: 32. 16 on HP makes it pretty tanky, but it takes 2 dmg each time it uses its ability. The ability increases its attack by 4, meaning it can carry with one charge, but it does 3-12, average does 7-8, which is not bad, but it will feel awful if you hit that 3… also has the best face value in arena! The card is pretty slow though and if you have 1 or 2 HP you can’t use your ability anymore unless you want to sacrifice your berserker. Inconsistency in ability dmg keeps this from its potential many saw when it first came out (Cost = 12).

Grave Knight (P/Br) Face Value: 27. Only 5 health which is bad. This can be taken out by true damage. Do not underestimate this ability, especially if it is built up quickly. If enemies have a lot of armor, it can take it all off and then deal 3 damage. Even some targets with more life have at least 4 armor, meaning this can do at least 7 damage to a full health target, and often in your hands you can deal much more. Loses quite a lot of value later in the game however… HOWEVER, this card counters the VERY popular Sacred Guardian, so it has counters from top threats, but it can also counter some of the other top threats itself (Cost = 11).

Ancient Horror (Br/P) Face Value: 28. Very squishy for an ultra rare with 12 health. Deal 7 damage with its ability is nice, it gets 3 attack if it kills the target which can give it a ton of attack… but this isn’t a MT, and your opponent could wipe this out before its attack goes to use… uses 2 uncommon types! (Cost = 10).

Treant (G/Blue) Face Value: 28. This guy can get very tanky and deal loads of damage IF it gets out front. The armor and attack gains makes this better than cards that only gain attack (although it has a 4:1 ratio instead of the lower ratio that the others have). Also brown is fairly uncommon in arena (as this gets rid of them) and if you don’t have any the value of this card goes up. Hates true damage though and is fairly slow… (Cost = 12).

TIER 4

Chimera (R/G) Face Value: 28. 7 damage, but to the healthiest enemy. Poison’s and entangles them, but entangle is usually only good on the front minion, which may be weakened by the time you get this off. This does combo well with the Hippogryph and the Scale Guard, but otherwise the effects are not great… if only you could target this effect… still pretty slow, but the buff helps… (Cost = 12).

Lamia (R/Blue) Face Value: 28. Is fairly tanky. Charm seems like its great and unique… unfortunately, its random… under the general best case, this does 12 damage between two enemies. Often you deal 5 or 6 to one enemy. If two minions exist that are not next to eachother (I.E. 2nd and 4th), or if only one minion is left this does NOTHING… can get good RNG though to make this better than some of the worst ultra rares… also is faster than most ultra rares (Cost = 9).

Flesh Golem (R/P) Face Value: 28. Does not deal any damage… gain 4 life, and entangle the first troop isn’t a great effect. He jumbles the board, but then the opponent goes, giving that jumbled board opportunities to your opponent, which is bad. Slow as well… the entangle buff helps, but this card still has a lot of other problems (cost = 14).

Black Beast (G/Br) Face value: 28. Horrible effect. Give an ally’s armor, attack and health to this troop may seem good, but you destroy it… it makes your attack a threat, and can make you very tanky, but that’s best case. Often you can’t use this as well thanks to the fact that it is slow to charge (your troop you want to consume maybe damaged by the time you charge this), and you get rid of some of your mana sources. Finally, this ability is useless if you only have this minion left. It is way too risky… don’t use it… (Cost = 13).

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So this is the end of the tier lists… until more troops come out that is! Have any recommendations for me, such as a troop that you think I rated too high or low, let me know below, as I do look at these seriously and may adjust rankings of cards if a lot of people have a different view of them (if I hear something about a troop though, I generally try it out first before I change it up.)

Emoxes, thanks a lot for your guides. It was a great help during the double soul week and arena grinding.
It was a little hard to win arenas for me befor your guides. Now, I can set up my team much better.